Royal Oak marks Earth Day with eco-friendly parking

Adopt-A-Watt founder Tom Wither has a proud moment at the podium just before a switch is flipped to turn on new energy-efficient lights at the Center Street parking structure in downtown Royal Oak. (David N. Posavetz/Daily Tribune)

With the flip of a switch, a parking deck on Center Street in downtown Royal Oak became a model for businesses putting the planet — and local government — before profits on Monday.

There were a lot of smiles at the Earth Day gathering for the launch of Michigan’s second municipal Adopt-A-Watt program.

More than 100 business sponsors and some individuals, including at least one politician, are participating. They are paying $500 a year for 10 years to cover the cost of retrofitting two downtown parking structures with energy-efficient lights. Eaton Corp. also donated an electric-vehicle charging station for the Center Street deck.

The new induction lamps cost about $400 each to buy and install. In return for their investments, signs will be posted in the parking structure with the sponsors’ names for downtown visitors and employees to see. The parking deck at Lafayette and Sixth streets will be next.

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The new lights will save the city about $120,000 over the next decade on its electric bills. The lamps also will last 10 times longer than the fluorescent lights they replaced.

The public-private partnership was facilitated by Adopt-A-Watt founder Tom Wither, who lives in Royal Oak.

“We started this in Dearborn,” Wither said. “That was more or less proof of (the) concept that our innovation could work, but Royal Oak now is confirmation that this funding innovation for energy efficiency does work. We can now scale this across America. We’re very confident in our model now and we have plans of doing that.”

In all, 102 energy-efficient lights will be installed at the two Royal Oak parking decks. They will eliminate the need to burn more than 300,000 pounds of coal over their 10-year lifetimes, Wither estimates.

“Little things do make a difference,” he said.

State Rep. Jim Townsend, D-Royal Oak, another sponsor, said he also expects the program to catch on now that Royal Oak is on board. He described the city as a bellwether community in Michigan.

“The moment someone knows I’m from Royal Oak, they have a story to tell,” Townsend said. “They know somebody. They used to live here. We really are a community the rest of the state is inclined to follow. The example we’re setting as members of the business community coming together to engage with the public sector means an awful lot. We do live in an age of fewer resources for public projects, but that doesn’t mean public initiatives and public space we all rely on isn’t important. It’s actually more important than ever.”

Wither is banking on that with Adopt-A-Watt. His goal is to provide clean technology for cash-strapped agencies through his for-profit social enterprise. The program taps into business marketing budgets in exchange for recognition of their environmental philanthropy.

Diane Cheklich, owner of Cheklich Enterprises, likes the advertising alternative. She said she is proud to have her freelance film and video company associated with a program that helps the environment, reduces fossil fuel consumption, and saves her former hometown money.

“For me, those kind of things are important to know when I make a decision about a service or product provider,” Cheklich said. “I hope people look at my company the same way and say ‘this is cool. She supports a great cause. Let’s do business.’ ”

Wither has executed about a dozen Adopt-A-Watt agreements to date, including programs at Philadelphia International Airport and the New Jersey Department of Transportation. New Jersey sponsors bought solar panels for rest areas. He also hopes to work with hospitals, bridges, tunnels and school districts.

Wither said he is motivated by the old saying that the Earth is not given to us by our parents but loaned to us by our children.

“In other words, there is no Planet B and we’ve got to take care of our resources,” he said.